Joan W. Kivlighan

Joan Nelson Williams Kivlighan, 86, passed away on Saturday, October 11, 2025, at The Legacy at North Augusta in Staunton, Virginia.

Joan Kivlighan was born on March 18, 1939, in Mobile, Alabama, the daughter of the late Elliott Maurice and Helen Olivia Nelson Williams.

Joan spent her childhood with a large extended family spread between Mobile and Panama City, Florida, where she would play with her sister and numerous cousins and aunts and uncles. She attended Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, earning a degree in history.

While attending Mary Baldwin, she went on a double date. Her friend’s date was a local guy named James Richard (“Jim”) Kivlighan. Joan and Jim had such a good time together that they asked their respective dates afterwards if it would be alright for them to go out on a date together. Joan and Jim were married in 1963 in Mobile.

Both Joan and Jim became teachers and dedicated their lives to public education. Joan taught at various levels over the years but found her true calling in kindergarten. For nearly 40 years, she nurtured generations of students at T.C. McSwain Elementary School in Staunton, where her warmth and enthusiasm left a lasting mark on the community.

Joan enjoyed playing bridge, meeting her girlfriends for breakfast, reading thriller-action books, meeting her girlfriends for lunch, and always looked forward to her weekly hair appointment at Mary’s, where she would often catch up with friends.

Joan and Jim also loved the beach — first with their children in the Florida Panhandle, and later, in retirement, at their property in Duck, North Carolina, where they hosted friends and cherished time with their grandchildren.

Joan and Jim spent most of their time together. They gardened, raised several beloved bulldogs (their final one, Jubilee, was a 50th wedding anniversary gift to each other), and, most of all, traveled the world together.

Joan and Jim first travelled together as newlyweds in 1964 across Europe. They often reminisced about their guidebook titled, Europe on $5 a Day, and shook their heads in wonder that they lived under the $5 per day limit. On that first trip, at the height of the cold war, they made a stressful visit into East Germany and East Berlin. This first trip together sparked a lifelong love of adventures traveling together. They explored every continent and collected artwork from their travels. They visited elementary schools in China, drank vodka in Russia, hiked the rainforest in Brazil, toured gardens in England, walked among penguins on islands in Antarctica, rode camels in Egypt, and drove through the bush of Australia. Joan said her favorite trips were safaris in Africa.

Joan and Jim spent their life together on Sherwood Avenue in Staunton. They loved Sherwood and enjoyed generations of families in the neighborhood. They were always ready for Halloween, the biggest holiday on the street, and kids from all over Staunton would stop by to see their former teacher who dressed as a pumpkin, in true kindergarten teacher fashion.

She is survived by her son, James Richard Kivlighan, Jr., and his wife, Mia; her daughters, Laura Olivia Kivlighan and Helen Carole Kivlighan Bell and her husband, Paul; her sister, Helen Williams Sporl and her husband George; her six grandchildren, Isa, Hanna, Jimmy III, Paulie, Joanie and Isaiah; and her six nieces and nephews, Kathleen and husband Kenneth, Alycia, Lauren, Michael, Katherine and husband JT, and Virginia.

In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her loving husband, James “Jim” Richard Kivlighan, Sr., to whom she had been married for 58 years.

A Celebration of Life is being planned and will be announced at a later date.

A private inurnment will be held at Thornrose Cemetery in Staunton.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be sent to the Kivlighan Family Scholarship, c/o Community Foundation of Central Blue Ridge, PO Box 815, Staunton, VA 24402 or online at https://cfcbr.org/kivlighan-family-scholarship/.

Henry Funeral Home is handling arrangements.